Sep 19, 2008

Shame On Trexler Trust

The City of Allentown is embarking upon a $3.8 million dollar capital plan to change the nature of our parks, funded in large part by the Trexler Trust. Although a number of fads will be accommodated, not one dollar is earmarked to preserve the existing WPA treasures, shame on the Trexler Trust. General Trexler envisioned the parks as a reserve for the passive enjoyment of nature. Among the new Disney-World type plans are a wedding pavilion in the Rose Garden, and the largest playground in eastern Pennsylvania to be built in Cedar Park, shame on Trexler Trust. The trail through Cedar Creek Park will have lights installed, and the picnic area's will be expanded, shame on Trexler Trust. Anybody driving past Cedar Beach on a Monday morning sees the trash generated currently by only a few picnic tables. How many more park workers will be required to deal with the consequences of these new plans? The playground is being billed as a "Destination Playground", who will pay to keep that clean? Shame on the Trexler Trust. Allentown should build and monitor numerous playgrounds throughout center city, within walking distance for children and parents. Here's an idea; lets keep the parks as is, lets maintain what we have, and stop using the Trexler Trust as a political arm of the Administration.

photo info: the dedication stone is on the Union Street wall. The steps shown go through a tunnel in the wall and climb up to Spring Garden Street. They are in total disrepair.

18 comments:

i agree, allentown needs many more pocket playgrounds, both for young children and teens to play basketball. the plans for the mega playground demonstrate a money spending bureaucratic attitude, out of touch with our park system and real needs of the neighborhoods. shame on trexler trust for enabling this agenda.

MM, I s there vacant space available for "pocket playgrounds" ion A-town? I think the idea is worth exploring, especially since it will help inner city kids. But the worry is whether gangs will attempt to take over, as they did in Easton. Panto had to impose a curfew there.

there are available area's,such as underused parking authority lots. unbelievably, these lots are being sold for more housing, the last thing allentown needs. as far as gangs, first we must have the playgrounds for this to be an issue.

First of all, while some areas are lacking, most of center city is littered with some of the best playgrounds in the Valley. New playgrounds have just been installed at McKinley and Central and and improvements have been made to Stevens. Very nice playgrounds also exist at 5th St Bucky Boyle and Velenia Park. Countless others exist such as Franklin, Jordan, Sheridan, Jefferson and on and on.

Ironically, the area's lacking playground are those in the west of 15th St in the West End. The only two playgrounds in the whole city west of 15th street are at Union Terrace and Mulenberg elementary schools.

Finally, Cedar Beach park is underdesigned for the level of use it gets. The park is literally loved to death. The grant from Trexler trust will open the park up to more users (including handicap children) while rehabilitating it from years of over use and flooding caused by suburban development upstream.

While you coments are thought provoking they would have been put to better use had they been offered at anyone of the public comment sessions publicly advertised before the plan with developed. Many people showed up and offered their input and the plans reflect it.

i agree with the lack of playgrounds in the west end, where can the kids near 18th and allen play basketball? fyi, i did comment on the plan when presented to city council. frankly, this administration has too many plans. much like the city in general, who will clean up after all the people these new attractions will attract? how many more workers will the city have to hire to maintain these features and who will pay for the ongoing maintenance? although being handicapped accessible is politically incorrect to argue against, does it justify changing the nature of our park system? shame on pawlowski for thinking he must "improve" one of the best park systems in the country, and shame on trexler trust for its compliance with his agenda

If a new playground is placed in the West End, a good location would be across Ott Street from St. Timothy's church. The city owns the property (if they haven't sold it for housing) and it is actually accessible to the neighborhood around it.

Placing a "destination playground" at Cedar Beach will only create a hazard since many will attempt to cross heavily-traveled roads (Hamilton), Linden, Ott) by foot to reach it.

For those of you who feel that the upgrades are needed due to park "overuse", perhaps the better answer is for the city to stop promoting even higher levels of use for the park.

How long will it be before the Administration complains that the "destination playground" is being used (tax-free) by non-residents. Do we really need to commercialize the Rose Garden? Is Cedar Beach the best location for a new soccer field (by Cedar Crest College) and a new skate park?

The reality is that this project is being used as a launch for the city's new non-profit group, Friends of the Parks. The administration wanted a high-cost, high-visibility project to add "prestige" and get the usual out-of-town contributors involved with the group.

Whether the park is the best location for the proposed "upgrades" is little more than an afterthought.

What a load of crap. Yes, let's stop progress, don't improve parks or create a more active park. Better to preserve the past then live in the present. (Cherish those stones, MM). Keep those suburban yuppies out of town! Why make Allentown any kind of destination? Just leaves more trash, right MM? Who's gonna clean up their mess? Oh the shame.

Given the deterioration and decay of the West Park and Franklin Park areas, bringing a playground to the West End would be a bad idea. There are simply too few children in the West End. The best thing the City could do is keep collecting huge tax revenues from us and contuinue providing us a low level of service regarding playgrounds. A new playground in the West End would further the ongoing destabilization of this nice neighborhood by bringing in more disrespectful, disruptive, nuisance children to the area. The blighted Muhlenberg School playground already attracts criminal elements to the area.

i do cherish those stones, and although i favor allentown being a destination, aka coke cola ball park etc., i do not believe building a mega-playground in the park is a proper venue. parents would have to drive their kids, or walking kids would have to cross hamilton blvd. simply put, the plan shows no understand of the city or it's park. this is a town of 100,000, importing large city plans, which will create more problems and costs than solutions.